THE VIDEOS AT THE TOP OF YOUTUBE'S 2012 VIRAL CHART

The Viral Ad Network runs a weekly Viral Video Chart for The Drum, tracking the top ten most shared viral ads and the most popular non-branded videos that are trending on YouTube each week. They recently published their 2012 round up which include a list of the top ten most viewed videos.

Charts also included top ten most shared videos on Twitter and Facebook, and top brands featured by frequency and by total number of views and shares. An infographic accompanies the overview.

The top ten most viewed videos were:

1. Kony 2012, Invisible Children.

The Kony 2012 campaign started as an experiment. Could an online video make an obscure war criminal famous? And if he was famous, would the world work together to stop him? Or would it let him remain at large? The video topped the chart with 95,708,151 views.

2. Kobe vs Messi: Legends on Board, Turkish Airlines. In the spot from Turkish agency Alametifarika, we see Lionel Messi and Kobe Bryant competing for the affection of a kid on board their flight. Both sportsmen attempt to wow with what they do best – ball handling skills.

To promote its launch in Belgium, American drama station TNT Benelux placed a red button “somewhere in a little town in Belgium, on a square where nothing really happens, and waited for someone to push it”.

When they did, the square suddenly erupted in chaos and characters appeared out of nowhere to act out an assortment of overly dramatic scenes: ambulances, stretchers, gunshots, car chases and then some. The reinvented flash mob was created by Duval Guillaume, Belgium.

DC Shoes and Monster World Rally Team driver Ken Block present the fifth instalment of the driver’s in-house created series of Gymkhana videos. In the mind blowing footage named “Gymkhana FIVE: Ultimate Urban Playground”, Block takes his H.F.H.V. (or “Hybrid Function Hoon Vehicle”) for a very sideways, very airborne and very smoky trip around the actual streets of San Francisco.

Standing on the edge of a train station platform and running across the tracks are both pretty stupid and avoidable ways of dying. Melbourne’s metropolitan rail service, Metro decided to illustrate this in a new campaign to raise safety awareness.

The Australian rail company enlisted the help of McCann Erickson in Melbourne to create the spot as part of the “Be Safe around Trains” campaign. The three-minute animation combines the catchy title with a song that you’ll be singing for the rest of the day, making the video the perfect candidate for going viral. It positioned in the chart with 35,199,561 views.

6. Felix Baumgartner’s supersonic freefall, Red Bull

Austrian Felix Baumgartner has become the first skydiver to go faster than the speed of sound, reaching a maximum velocity of 833.9mph (1,342km/h). The record-breaking stunt was backed by energy drink, Red Bull.

7. OK Go Needing/Getting, OK Go/Chevrolet

Viewers may have caught some of the act during the 2012 Superbowl, during which there was a commercial for the new Chevrolet Sonic boasting the car’s use to perform an OK Go music video. In the subsequent music video, the Sonic was rigged with retractable pneumatic arms set up to play instruments.

Nike Football’s “My Time is Now” was not just a three-minute cinematic spot. The interactive campaign by Wieden + Kennedy, London and Stink Digital allowed those who were hungry for more to delve into new tunnels of discovery.

The Euro 2012 campaign focused on the hunger and impatience of the new breed of football players ready to tear up the rule book and make their mark in football’s elite ranks.

9. L’Invitation Au Voyage, Louis Vuitton

Directed by Inez & Vinoodh, the short film is set to John Murphy’s “In the House – In a Heartbeat” and showcases the label’s Speedy Monogram Empreinte bag with a series of romantic images and film in renowned museum, the Louvre. Featuring Arizona Muse.